Sarah knew in her bones that tonight was the night.
            She’d been biding her time all these years.  From the moment she’d first laid eyes on Rafe, she’d been determined to make him hers.  With his chiseled, muscular build, square jaw, and thick, touseled chestnut hair, Rafe was like a modern-day descendant of the gods.  When he turned his smoldering, dark gaze upon her, Sarah felt as if she’d been impaled, struck immobile by those intense, passionate eyes.  There was a connection between them, an electricity that couldn’t be denied – and she knew he felt the same way about her.
            Of course, there was that pesky business of him being married to her sister.  But that was Amy for you – trust her to have everything.  All her life, Sarah had had to deal with Amy’s one-upmanship.  Money, career, their mother’s approbation – whatever brass ring Sarah might desire, Amy would somehow always find a way to snatch it up first.  Of course she would have Rafe.  But not after tonight.
            Striding through the glittering, fabulously ornate Two of Hearts Ball, Sarah Cho smoothed back her sequined, Versace sheath.  She noticed Lin, the mistress of ceremonies, looking ever-resplendent in fire-red, ruffled chiffon as she pushed through gold lamé curtains, copper-tinted balloons, and a never-ending shower of tinsel confetti.  The crowd parted before Sarah as she approached her target: Amy.
            “Well, well, well,” Sarah spat out, “if it isn’t the Queen Bee herself.  Lovely party.”
            Amy whirled around in her satin, ice-blue Dolce & Gabanna gown.  She planted her immaculately French-manicured hands on her hips.
            “Sarah!  What are you doing here?” she demanded.
            “When I heard you were throwing this gala, there was no way I could miss it,” Sarah tossed her lustrous, ebony mane back. “My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.”
            Amy groaned in frustration. “Oh, come on, Sarah.  After what you’ve done, you know you’re not welcome here.”
            “Why?” Sarah demanded. “Because you’re ashamed to have a stripper for a sister?”
            “Your sordid past is the least of my concerns,” Amy glared at her. “I’m more worried about what you’re going to pull tonight.  Let’s think – you’ve already got kidnapping on your dossier, what are you going to add to your rap sheet now?”
            “I didn’t kidnap anyone,” Sarah snapped, “I love that child more than anyone!”
            “Except that she’s not your child!” Amy shrieked. “Get it through your head – she’s my daughter, not yours.  They should have sent you away to Sing Sing, instead of letting you get off with a cushy stay at Shady Pines!”
            “I’m fully recovered from my stay at the asylum,” Sarah declared, “and I’m here to reclaim what’s mine.  I should have had Rafe’s child, not you!”
            “That will never happen,” Amy sneered. “Once Rafe knows that you slept with his brother, you’ll never have him.”
            Sarah’s eyes narrowed. “Careful – or I might have to lock you in that secret room in the basement again.”
            Amy gasped. “You-you – bitch!”
            She tossed her drink in Sarah’s face.  Blinking gin out of her eyes, Sarah gaped at her for a second.  Then snatching up a nearby vodka tonic, she hurled the contents at her sister.   Dripping wet, Amy looked down in horror at her ruined designer dress, while out of the corner of her eye, Sarah noticed Lin and Rafe staring at them from a corner of the room….
            Amy looked up with mascara-streaked eyes at Sarah – and lunged toward her with a feral scream.  The next minute, the two girls were careening around the party, shattering china, knocking over tables, and sending flower arrangements flying as they screeched and yanked at each other’s hair…

Back to Home Page